Saturday, May 02, 2015

(New York) – The discovery of more than 30 bodies in a human trafficking
camp should prompt Thai authorities to authorize an independent, United
Nations-assisted investigation, commit to publish its findings, and
bring those responsible to justice, including any government officials
involved, Human Rights Watch said today. The UN and others, including
the United States, that have called for an end to trafficking in Thailand should urgently press the government to end official complicity and willful blindness in rampant trafficking in the country.

On May 1, 2015, a joint military-police taskforce discovered at least 30
bodies at an abandoned human trafficking camp in the Sadao district of
Songkhla province close to the Thai-Malaysian border. Many were buried
in shallow graves, while others were covered with blankets and clothes
and left in the open. Police reports indicate the dead are ethnic
Rohingya Muslims from Burma and Bangladesh
who starved to death or died of disease while held by traffickers who
were awaiting payment of ransoms before smuggling them into Malaysia. Traffickers controlling this camp apparently departed into the mountainous jungle, taking surviving Rohingya with them.

“Trafficking of persons in Thailand has long been out of control,
something that senior officials have admitted to Human Rights Watch and
others,” said Brad Adams,
Asia director. “The finding of a mass grave at a trafficking camp sadly
comes as little surprise. The long involvement of Thai officials in
trafficking means that an independent investigation with UN involvement
is necessary to uncover the truth and hold those responsible to
account.”

For years, human rights organizations and investigative journalists have
reported on the thriving human trafficking networks that operate with
support and protection from corrupt officials in southern Thailand. Last
year, the US State Department downgraded Thailand to the worst possible
rating – tier 3 – on its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report, for
failing to combat human trafficking.

Rohingya fleeing abuses, persecution, and hardship in Burma’s Arakan
State or Bangladesh are often trafficked and abused by networks working
with official protection, while in other cases victims simply receive
little protection from Thai authorities.

Rohingya who are apprehended in Thailand are treated as “illegal
immigrants” subject to deportation without regard to the threats facing
them in Burma. Rohingya men are sometimes detained in overcrowded
immigration detention facilities across the country, while women and
children have been sent to shelters operated by the Ministry of Social
Development and Human Security. Many more are believed to be transferred
through corrupt arrangements into the hands of human trafficking gangs
where they face cruel treatment and no prospect of assistance from Thai
authorities.

As with previous Thai governments, the military junta of Prime Minister
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha does not permit the office of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to properly conduct refugee status
determination screenings of Rohingya.

“Each year, tens of thousands of Rohingya flee the dire human rights
situation in Burma only to be further abused and exploited at the hands
of traffickers in Thailand,” Adams said. “The discovery of these mass
graves should shock the Thai government into shutting down the
trafficking networks that enrich officials but prey on extremely
vulnerable people. Instead of sticking Rohingya in border camps or
immigration lockups, the government should provide safety and
protection.”

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